Can You See?

Can You See?

John 9

We are in the midst of a Lenten series on the “signs” of Jesus in John. 

So far we’ve studies Jesus turning “water into wine”, and then the nobleman’s son was healed. Next, the healing of the cripple by the pool, followed by the feeding of the 5,000.  Last week, we saw Jesus walking on the water in a storm.  Each of these are signs meant to show us the Lordship of Jesus, the Messiah. Today, we see Jesus healing a man who was born blind.

When all is quiet and you are left with only your thoughts, what voices do you hear?

(From a book called,  "Messy Spirituality" by Michael Yaconelli)  For almost forty years, Margaret lived with the memory of one soul-scarring day in the one-room schoolhouse she attended. From the first day Margaret came to class, she and Ms. Garner, her bitter and harsh teacher, didn’t get along. Over the years, the animosity between them only worsened until one fateful day when she was nine years old, Margaret’s life was forever altered.

That day, Margaret frantically raced into her classroom after recess, late again. Ms. Garner was furious, “Margaret!” she shouted, “we have been waiting for you! Get up her to the front of the class right now!”

Margaret walked slowly to the teacher’s desk, was told to face the class, and then slowly the nightmare began.

Ms. Garner ranted, “Boys and girls, Margaret has been a bad girl. I have tried to help her to be responsible. But, apparently, she doesn’t want to learn. So we must teach her a lesson. We must forcer her to face what a selfish person she has become. I want each of you to come to the front of the room, take a piece of chalk, and write something bad about Margaret on the blackboard. Maybe this experience will motivate her to become a better person!”

Margaret stood frozen next to Ms. Garner. One by one, the students began a silent procession to the blackboard. One by one, the students wrote their life-smothering words, slowly extinguishing the light in Margaret’s soul. “Margaret is stupid! Margaret is selfish! Margaret is fat! Margaret is a dummy!” On and on they went, until twenty five terrible scribblings of Margaret’s “badness” screamed from the blackboard.

The venomous statements taunted Margaret in what felt like the longest day of her life. After walking home with each caustic word indelibly written on her soul, she crawled into her bed, claiming sickness, and try to cry the pain away, but the pain never left, and forty years later, she slumped in the waiting room of a psychologist’s office, still cringing in the shadow of those twenty five sentences. To her horror, Margaret had slowly become what the students had written.

Turn with me to John 9  as we read the story about a blind man who may have faced similar taunts. And about how  Jesus healed him.  Here we find, not accusations on a blackboard, but a series of “voices in the air” - voices with questions such as …

Who sinned? (vv. 1-7)

Who is this?  (vv. 8-23)   and

Who is Jesus? (vv. 24-34)

1. Body
1. Who sinned? (vv. 1-7) 
1. Put yourself in the place of that blind man.
1. You can’t see, but you can hear — perhaps your hearing is enhanced?
2. Hear this question of the disciples — Who sinned?
3. You’ve heard that before - your situation would have been “the talk of the town.”  Lifetime burden - “Unclean” - Born that way 
4. You’ve heard this talk your whole life -  “poor beggar”
5. And that question — “Who sinned?”
1. But back then, many Jewish people believed that if someone was born with a handicap, then someone in your family must have sinned.  Either you sinned in the womb, or one of your parents did.  
2. The Midrash is a Jewish book of traditions where the rabbis tried to elaborate on the Bible.  And it says in there that a married man should not look a woman, and even if he looks down at her heel, there's a chance that his children could be born weak-minded.  Another tradition says that if you sleep with your wife during the uncleanness of her monthly flow, there's a chance that any future children will be born with epilepsy.
3. Crazy talk, right?  But it has Biblical basis.  
1. In Ex. 34:7 God says that He “visit[s] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
4. You and I know that these ideas are crazy.  But some of the rabbis were very superstitious, and they believed these things!  They even believed that a baby could sin while it was inside the mother's womb, and if it sinned bad enough, it could be born handicapped.
6. Who sinned?  No doubt that’s a question that you’ve pondered yourself.  Who hasn’t been tempted to think similar thoughts when going through times of sickness or severe trials?  Who sinned?  Why me?
7. Then you hear what Jesus says that “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”
2. At the end of the day, the blind man hears Jesus
2. Who is this?  (vv. 8-23)
1. This man has received his sight, but John next shows us others who are having trouble seeing.
1. His own neighbors aren’t certain if this is the fellow or not. (vv. 8-9)
2. He was KNOWN to them by his blindness.  
1. They never got past that.
2. They never really got to know this man.
3. Now that his “defining feature” is gone, they don’t even recognize him.
2. Now that this man’s infirmity is gone, he should be welcomed back into society.  Instead, he is cast out… cast out by …
1. His neighbors (v. 13), 
1. they can’t see what’s happened 
2. They don’t know if it’s him or someone else.
3. Let somebody else sort things out.
2. His parents (vv. 20-21), 
1. they can’t see how their son was healed or who healed him. and 
2. They can’t see risking being cast out of the church 
3. 2000 years ago, this was the only synagogue in town.  And being excommunicated from the synagogue not only meant that you couldn't attend worship services.  It also meant that you were completely cut off from the social life of the community.  You were basically treated like a leper.  The other members of the synagogue had to stay at least 6 feet away from you.  Your own family couldn't come near you.  And no one would be allowed to speak to you as long as the ban was in effect, which could be anywhere from 7 days to 30 days to a lifetime.  You'd have to move away from home and live by yourself.  That's why the man's parents said, "He is of age.  Ask him yourself."  Because they didn't want to take a chance on getting kicked out of society.
3. Cast out by those who represent “the church”  (v. 16, v. 34b)
1. They refuse to credit Jesus with a miracle.
2. they can’t see this as being from God
3. All of these people are having trouble seeing what’s going on, but at the end of this day, the blind fellow sees Jesus
3. Who is Jesus? (vv. 24-34) 
1. Ultimately, this becomes a question of “Who is Jesus?”
2. The Pharisees had one job here.  As religious authorities, they were to examine this man’s claims of healing and determine if he had, indeed, been healed. Instead of trying this man’s claims of healing, they turn this into a trial of Jesus, himself.  These Pharisees think that they know what’s going on…
1. “WE KNOW that this man is a sinner.” John 9:24
1. (Why was He a sinner? Because He healed on the Sabbath)
2. Jesus broke their Sabbath Day regulations.
3. It seems like Jesus WENT OUT OF HIS WAY to do acts of mercy on the Sabbath Day.
2. “WE KNOW that God does not listen to sinners” John 9:31
3. “WE KNOW that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we DO NOT KNOW where he comes from.” John 9:29
4. In their minds, they have an excuse for not listening to Jesus… because they KNOW stuff.  Watch out for anyone who claims to KNOW STUFF but their knowledge doesn’t lead them to worship God through Jesus.
3. But do you remember how the blind man responded to them?
4. “ONE THING I DO KNOW: I was blind, and now I can see!” John 9:25
1. One thing I KNOW — I know that I’ve met Jesus, and
2. I KNOW that Jesus has changed my life.
5. At the end of the day, the blind man knows Jesus

1. Conclusion
1. Remember Margaret? 
2. After decades of depression and anxiety, she had finally sought help and was having the last meeting with her psychologist. Two long years of weekly counseling helped Margaret to finally extricate herself from her past. It had been a long an difficult road, but she smiled at her counselor (how long it had been since she had smiled!) as they talked about her readiness to move on.
3. “Well, Margaret,” the counselor said softly, “I guess it’s graduation day for you. How are you feeling?”
4. After a long silence, Margaret spoke. “I…I’m okay.”
5. The counselor hesitated. “Margaret, I know this will be difficult, but just to make sure you’re ready to move on, I am going to ask you to do something. I want to go back to your schoolroom and detail the events of that day. Take your time. Describe each of the children as they approach the blackboard, remember what they wrote and how you felt – all twenty five students.”
6. In a way, this would be easy for Margaret. For forty years she had remembered every detail. And yet, to go through the nightmare one more time would take every bit of strength she had. After a long silence, she began the painful description. One by one, she described each of the students vividly, as though she had just seen them, stopping periodically to regain her composure, forcing herself to face each of those students one more time.
7. Finally, she was done, and the tears would not stop, could not stop. Margaret cried a long time before she realized someone was whispering her name. “Margaret. Margaret. Margaret.” She looked up to see her counselor staring into her eyes, saying her name over and over again. Margaret stopped crying for a moment.
8. “Margaret, you…left out one person.”
9. “I certainly did NOT! I have lived with this story for forty years. I know every student by heart.”
10. No Margaret, you did forget someone. See, he’s sitting in the back of the classroom. He’s standing up, walking toward your teacher, Ms. Garner. She is handing him a piece of chalk and he’s taking it! Now he’s walking over to the blackboard and picking up an eraser. He is erasing every one of the sentences the students wrote. They are gone! Margaret, they are gone! Now he’s turning and looking at you, Margaret. Do you recognize him? Yes, his name is Jesus. Look, he’s writing new sentences on the board. “Margaret is loved. Margaret is beautiful. Margaret is gentle and kind. Margaret is strong. Margaret has great courage!”
11. And Margaret began to weep again. But very quickly, the weeping turned into a smile, and then into laughter, and then into tears of joy.”

1. What do you hear?  
1. What voices do you listen to?
2. What are you saying to yourself?
2. What do you see?  
1. Can you recognize the move of God when it happens?
2. Do you see Jesus as…
1. your healer?  
2. Savior?  
3. Friend?
3. What do you know?  
1. Specifically, What do you know about Jesus?  
2. What can you SAY (or tell others) about Him?